"The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever. Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."—2 John 1:1-11.

I want you to notice that expression: "For there are many deceivers entered into the world, who confess not that Christ is come in the flesh." Actually, that expression means "many deceivers have come into the world, who confess not that Christ is COMING in the flesh; look to yourselves that you lose not those things which we have wrought, that we receive a full reward."

Tonight, I want us to examine carefully and prayerfully these eleven verses from the second Epistle of John; therefore, if I were to select a subject for this evening’s discussion it would be simply "Walking in the Truth."

I will have to do expository preaching this evening; by that I mean I will have to take it verse by verse. I always enjoy listening to this type of preaching, and when the opportunity presents itself, I like to do expository preaching myself. Sometimes an entire epistle revolves around one or two verses or thoughts. Actually, the main thoughts in the lesson before us are TRUTH and DECEIVERS. One is standing opposed to the other.

Old D. L. Moody said one of the greatest sermons he had ever heard was one in which an old country preacher in Scotland read one of these entire epistles, and he spent 40 minutes doing it, only making a few words of comment. So this evening, those of you who have your Bibles keep them turned to II John, and let us examine to see what it teaches.

Now let us notice verse one.

What would the Apostle John have us to learn? First of all, I want you to notice the Apostle John speaks concerning an "elect lady and her children." In fact, the entire epistle is addressed to a woman and her children.

Back when I was a young preacher boy I used to read II John and reach the conclusion that the "elect lady" was a church, until one time I finally came face to face with the inevitable fact that, although the church is spoken of in the feminine gender, a church is NOT a MOTHER. A church cannot produce children; she doesn’t have children at all; therefore, this epistle cannot refer to a church, but refers to a consecrated woman and her children. The last verse refers to her sister and her children.

I want you to notice in verse one what John actually has to say in the opening phrase to the elect lady and her children. He uses this particular expression, and if you don’t notice it carefully you may overlook the meaning. It is speaking concerning the lady and her children: "Them I love in the truth." Not just love them, now, but "them 1 love in the TRUTH." Verse 2 says he "loved them for the truth’s SAKE."

You, no doubt, hear quite often that a saved person is supposed to love all men alike. Now that isn’t TRUE. In fact, such a thought as that is ridiculous, and can only have its birth in the brain of a heretic. Do you think for one moment that I can love YOUR children as much as I love MINE? Do you think that I love YOUR wife as much as I do my OWN? Do you think that I can love those NOT walking in the TRUTH as much as I love those who ARE walking in the TRUTH? Absolutely not. And John said he loved them for the truth’s SAKE.

You may raise the question this evening: "Brother Pastor, WHAT is the TRUTH, anyway? The Bible has much to say concerning truth, so what is TRUTH?"

In John 18, Pilate asked Jesus the same question: "What is truth?" And Jesus did not even answer Pilate for the simple reason that Jesus, previous to this, had already said, "I am the TRUTH" (John 14:6). And in that immortal, memorable prayer in the Gospel according to John, Jesus speaking concerning believers had this to say: "Sanctify them through thy TRUTH: Thy WORD is TRUTH" (John 17:17).

Jesus prayed for believers, not unbelievers; He prayed for BELIEVERS. You know, some people get the idea that Jesus prayed for the world, but in John 17:9, "I pray for them (believers): I pray NOT for the world, but for them thou hast given me; for they are thine." Jesus never prayed for the world; for the simple reason that had Jesus prayed for the world, the whole world without exception would be saved, without the loss of a single one.

You might ask me WHY did not Jesus pray for the world? For the simple reason that had Jesus prayed for the world then everyone without exception would be saved: for God the Father always HEARS His Son.

"Then they took the stone away from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast HEARD me. And I knew that thou HEAREST me always; but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me."—John 11:41,42.

Had Jesus, therefore, prayed for the world in John 17 the whole world would be saved, but He didn’t pray for the world. He only prayed for those composing the church and those who would be won to Christ thereafter by His church. "I pray NOT for the world," said Jesus, "but I pray for these thou hast GIVEN me OUT of the world, that they might be one as you and I are one." And He also said, "I pray not for these ALONE, but I pray for those who will believe through their word." Thus, Christ, the Lord, prayed for believers in every instance, and said, "Sanctify them through thy word; thy WORD is TRUTH."

The truth is therefore the Holy Word of God, the revealed Word of God, the Holy Scriptures—that is the TRUTH. The Bible that I hold in my hand this evening is the TRUTH. This is God’s Word; thus, I love you who are in the truth, not OUT of it, but IN the truth. "I love you in the truth," said the Apostle John, "for the truth’s sake, and all those who have known the truth, I love them." God didn’t command, God didn’t demand believers to love those OUT of the truth just as much as we love those who are walking IN the truth.

Notice again: He said, "I rejoice greatly (verse 4) when I saw (or heard, or found) thy children walking in the truth."

You know, there is nothing in the world that disturbs, upsets and causes a pastor more grief than finding members of the church of which he is pastor walking out of the truth.

I shall not soon forget several years ago the first church I ever pastored. We were doing fine and the Lord was blessing us. The membership was multiplying, and there came into the community one of those fly-by-night evangelists and got five or six of the more prominent members confused. He confused and misled them, causing no end of trouble. I went to each one personally and reasoned out of the Word of God, and showed them the error of their ways; I pleaded with them to denounce, renounce and divorce themselves from heresy and come back to the truth. No wonder old John said, "I REJOICE greatly when I found thy children walking in the TRUTH."

I tell you, beloved, we live in an age in which truth is despised and abhorred. If you want to make these half-baked Christians mad, and the world mad, if you want to make enemies right and left, just stand for the truth, and that is exactly what you will do when you stand by the truth of God’s Word.

The Apostle Paul said to the young preacher boy Timothy, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."—2 Timothy 4:2-4.

Paul said to Timothy: "Preach the WORD; preach the Word; preach the WORD." That means preach the TRUTH; not something else, not untruth, but "preach the WORD; preach the TRUTH."

I say to the young preacher boys here tonight: regardless whether you are popular, regardless whether or not the world hates you, whether or not these half-baked Christians hate and despise you, stand for the TRUTH and PREACH it. Paul said to Timothy, "Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke with longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound DOCTRINE, but will heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and shall turn their ears AWAY from the truth."

Brother, you don’t have to look far to see that today. People like to have their ears tickled with a doctrine that is good for nothing but to be cast out and trampled under foot by those who love the truth.

"I rejoiced," said John, "when I found thy children walking in the truth."

You know, I am just foolish and old fashioned enough to believe every word that I read in the Book of God. I believe it to be God’s Word, God’s revelation to mankind. When I read the Word of God, I say to my heart: "This is God’s Word: this is God speaking to me, I must accept and believe it."

Now John said, "I rejoice greatly when I found thy children walking in the truth." You know, beloved, truth is that which PURGES men from iniquity. Some men get the idea that man can be saved under just ANY kind of preaching. Now that isn’t so. He might THINK he was saved, but there is nothing in the world that purges men from iniquity but the TRUTH of God.

"By mercy and TRUTH iniquity is purged: and by fear of the Lord men depart from evil."—Proverbs 16:6. Now, the wise man Solomon said, "By mercy and truth iniquity is purged." And David said in Psalm 25:10, "All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth."

You say that you are following Jesus. FINE! I hope you are. You may say that you are WALKING in the paths of the Lord. I hope you are because if you are not, then you are not walking in the paths of TRUTH. But let me tell you something: some people THINK they are walking in the paths of the Lord when they are not, because they are following MAN-MADE doctrines. Thus, the path of the Lord just DOESN’T run in that direction. David said, "ALL the paths of the Lord are mercy and TRUTH."

I tell you, beloved, it is a dangerous thing to trifle with the truth of God. It is a dangerous thing to ignore the plain teachings of God’s Word. You are trifling with God when you trifle with His Word.

Notice in the 6th verse of the text how that LOVE and TRUTH go together. You LOVE those who are in the TRUTH and are walking in the truth. Now watch it in verse 6: "And this is LOVE, that we WALK after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it."

This is the truth now. The commandment spoken here does not mean the Ten Commandments, the Law given to Moses, but it means the commandment of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of Jesus, the things that Jesus commanded, Himself. Do you SEE? He said, "This is love: walking after his commandments."

You may say, "Oh! Brother Cox, I LOVE the Lord!"

Do you now? Do you know HOW you can prove whether or not you really LOVE the Lord? Sometimes the question is asked: how may I know whether or not I love the Lord? Well, I’ll tell you: 1 John 5:2, 3, "By this we KNOW that we love the children of God, when we love God, and KEEP his commandments; For this is the LOVE of God, that we keep his commandments; and his COMMANDMENTS are not GRIEVOUS."

That is the test of love right there. You KNOW whether or not you love God. The Apostle John said, "This is the LOVE of God, that ye KEEP his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous at all." So you can know whether or not you love God by that.

You may say, "How does LOVE for God and for those walking in the truth come? Is it something that man can generate within himself?"

No! It is through the operation of the Spirit of God. I am going further and say that it is through the direct operation of the Spirit of God upon the human heart. That’s what. It is the DIRECT operation of God’s Spirit upon the human heart.

"And hope maketh not ashamed; because the LOVE of GOD is shed abroad in our hearts by the HOLY SPIRIT which is given unto us."—Romans 5:5.

THAT is how love comes to the human heart. That’s how God implants LIFE to the human heart, and it emanates therefrom, and reaches out to those who are walking in the truth, NOT those who walk NOT in the truth. He speaks of the commandments He gave from the beginning that we should love one another. One of the distinguishing signs that the world can recognize and identify is the love that exists between those walking in the truth.

Do you think the disciples, the ones that composed the church that Jesus established—who were the first members, the first ordained preachers of it, and who formed the nucleus of the Lord’s church—do you not think they loved each other? Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another."

I want you to notice this other thing: He said, "Many deceivers have entered into the world, but ye should not be moved nor shaken at all because you are builded on the proper foundation: and that foundation is Christ." He lays the proper foundation first, and then warns about false deceivers. Now let us see what the deceivers have to say: "Many deceivers have entered into the world who confess NOT that Jesus Christ is COMING in the flesh." Coming in the flesh, just as He went away.

One of the leading ministers in the city of Memphis told some women (thirty-one of them, to be exact), and all of you would know him if I called his name, he told these women that the Lord will never come back to this earth again. He said that Christ’s feet would never touch the ground, that He is gone forever. Now, you know what GOD said—let us be fair with God’s Word, beloved. The man who said that was a DECEIVER and an ANTICHRIST. Now I didn’t say that, the Bible did. Let us read II John 1:7: "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist."

Evidently, that preacher failed to read Zechariah 14:4, "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."

And he goes on to give the description of the Battle of Armageddon and the judgment of the nations. He said that the Lord’s feet would stand on Mount Olivet. Don’t TAKE from me the hope of His SECOND coming. He that denies the second coming of Christ is an antichrist and a deceiver. The Lord IS coming back. I tell you He IS. It makes no DIFFERENCE whether or not you are LOOKING for Him, He is coming; and the man who isn’t looking for Him to come back is going to be caught naked.

"For them must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that LOOK for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."—Hebrews 9:26-28.

Paul said that Jesus was coming the second time NOT to bear sins, but in JUDGMENT. "He is coming in flaming fire to take vengeance upon those who obey (believe) not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess. 1:8). Paul said that Christ was to appear the second time unto those that LOOK for Him. Are you LOOKING for Him? Do you BELIEVE He is coming? Or are you going to be taken in by the modernist, those who would destroy the rapture of the saints and the hope of the saved.

"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world: LOOKING for that blessed hope and the glorious APPEARING of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."—Titus 2:11-13.

I tell you, beloved, He IS coming; it makes no difference whether or not you are ready, whether or not you are LOOKING for Him, He is coming. Let the modernist stand up and deceive their congregations, He is STILL coming. Let them hold out their hands and say, "No, He is not coming!" But He is STILL coming. The Bible, the Word of God, the Truth says that He is, and God brands everyone that denies that He is not, God brands him an antichrist and deceiver.

If you are here this evening, and you don’t believe the Lord is going to come in the flesh, then you are an antichrist, a deceiver. I don’t care who you are. You might be a member of this church or some other church or religious organization, but if you don’t believe in the second coming of Christ, if you deny that He is coming back, God says that you are an ANTICHRIST and a DECEIVER. You may claim to be SOMETHING, but God’s Word says that you are NOTHING.

Let us go on: John said that we are to "look to ourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward" (II John 1:8). Do you know HOW a man can lose his rewards? A child of God can become so befuddled, caught in the web of the modernist, and suddenly his belief in the second coming of Christ will be shaken. He listens to the fiery, eloquent appeal of the modernist as he destroys the very foundation upon which Christianity rests, the rapture of the saved and the saint’s hope. Sometimes Christians sit there and listen intently, and before long they begin to think deep in their hearts, "That man may be right." That’s the very moment that God reaches out and takes away that person’s rewards, not his LIFE, not his SOUL, but his REWARDS.

Notice in the 9th verse that he is talking about false teachers and deceivers: "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son" (2 John 1:9). That expression "abideth not" actually means to continue not onward, making up your own doctrine, failing to adhere to the truth of God’s Word. "That person," said John, "hath not God."

I’ll tell you one thing: I have seen folk that are supposed to be saved that didn’t like doctrine. They will say, "I don’t like DOCTRINE." We live in a world of doctrine. You know, I have my doubts about a man’s salvation who doesn’t love the doctrines which are based and founded on the Word of God. In fact, the Bible is a doctrinal Book. Thus, you may say, "Brother Cox, I don’t like to hear the doctrine." Okay, then what you had BETTER hear is the Holy Spirit knocking on your door as He convicts of sin, because he that "goeth not onward in the doctrine of Christ hath not God." I didn’t say that, God’s Word did, and we agreed to BELIEVE God’s Word—did we not?

Alright, notice something else: Baptists have slipped so far from the truth they can barely be recognized as Baptists, and believe me, this is a sin, a stench in the nostrils of God. You may say, "Why, Preacher!" But I am telling you the God’s honest truth. PULPIT AFFILIATION, I despise it. I don’t know of any practice more damaging, more hurtful, injurious to the cause of Christ than the practice of "pulpit affiliation." Get some great heretical preacher in your pulpit and let him preach! I don’t believe in that. Knowingly, I wouldn’t let a man get behind this sacred desk who didn’t believe the truth of God. I am going further than that and tell you that I don’t believe in Baptist preachers swapping pulpits with anybody. I’ll tell you that for sure.

You may say, "Oh, Preacher, we are working for the same place." But I’ll tell you: I am not WORKING to go anywhere. When God gets ready for me, He will take me. God will TAKE me; I am not working to go anywhere.

"All right," someone will say, "there are some GOOD folk." I am not talking about their "goodness," but about DOCTRINE. Do you think I would let a man who wasn’t a Baptist stand in this pulpit and confuse and poison the minds of my people? I am a Baptist, woof, warp and filling, up one side and down the other, inside, outside, top side, and bottom side, too. I tell you I am a Baptist, and amen for that. I don’t mean that derogatorily, that I am the only saved person in the world. There are lots of saved folk, but I am still a Baptist. I am a child of God first, and second, I am a Baptist.

You get it now: here comes a man preaching salvation by works, with just a little faith in it, and the preacher gets up and says, "Mr. So and So, preach us a sermon." And the man gets up there and preaches a sermon on salvation by works, the doctrine of apostasy, preaches open communion, denies the sovereignty of God, the independency of the local church. Why, I’d DRAG him from the pulpit if he started that!

One time I asked a man to assist me in a meeting although I hadn’t heard him preach in sometime. I had a little talk with him, and asked him what he believed. I asked him, "Are you REALLY a Baptist, or are you just PLAYING at being a Baptist?" He replied that he THOUGHT he was a Baptist. I then told him that I heard he practiced a certain thing in evangelism. He said that he did. I told him then and there that he wasn’t going to practice that in the church of which I was pastor. I didn’t believe in it, and he was not going to be a deceiver of my people.

You may say, "Why, Preacher, I think you have gone off half-cracked." Well, let us see what the Apostle John had to say about the matter: "If there come any unto you, and bring NOT this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds" (2 John 1:10, 11).

Talk about loving a man who lived in error and heresy! They are not to be loved by those who love the truth. Get this now: He said, "Don’t you RECEIVE them, regardless of how eloquent he might be; if he brings not the doctrine, receive him not in your house."

Not only is the "elect lady" not to invite him into her private home, but also into the Lord’s house—in the pulpit. Don’t let him get up there in the Lord’s house and corrupt, corrode, contaminate God’s people; for it is actually possible that even the kingdom of God, which is made up of saved people, can actually become a little contaminated with evil doctrine. Don’t let him get in there; don’t subject your children to it, neither the children of the kingdom.

You know what, my children are almost grown, but if certain doctrines were brought into my house, I would, just as politely as possible, take the bearer of such doctrines by the seat of the pants and the collar of his coat and show him the door. There are certain doctrines I will just not ALLOW in my house. I won’t let them come into my home to contaminate my children; and also I will not let them get behind this sacred desk to corrupt the Lord’s children here at this place—as long as I am overseer of the flock at this particular place.

One time I saw the evidence of that. I had a cousin who died and went to Hell because of a hellish, rotten doctrine that damned his soul to Hell. You ask me how I know he went to Hell? Well, anyone who doesn’t believe in Christ, and is trusting in ANYTHING else or ANYONE else other than the finished work of Christ, will die and go to Hell. I know that. The Bible says as much:

"Then said Jesus again unto them, 1 go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither 1 go, ye cannot come. Then said the Jews, will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither 1 go, ye cannot come. "And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath: I am from above: Ye are of this world: I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe NOT that I am HE, ye shall DIE in your sins."—John 8:21-24.

This community in which my cousin lived was all right; folk were walking in the truth, and there came a rotten, hellish, doctrine. A certain man with a glib tongue got hold of it, and many believed that doctrine. He went from house to house contaminating, corrupting, corroding until finally eight or ten families in that community embraced that rotten stuff. They laughed at the truth of God’s Word, and died and went to Hell.

Then you say, "Preacher, you ought not to say that about a doctrine." Oh, yes, I OUGHT. Jesus said through John, "Receive him NOT in your house. He’s not sound in the doctrine; don’t receive him in your house. Don’t give him a cold drink of water, either, or a biscuit to carry away with him: don’t bid him God speed." For to do so is to be a "partaker in his evil deeds." If you let him come into your home or pulpit, then you are a partaker of his evil deeds. DON’T SAY, "God bless you, fellow; may I wish you all the success in the world," when he is preaching rotten heresy.

Now in bringing the message to a close, I could go on and on, but I must close. Keep this in mind: if God’s WORD means anything in the world, and you want to be freed from the shackles of sin, and you want to be set free, the ONLY thing that WILL set you free is the TRUTH. It will sever the chains, and will sever the fetters, setting you free, putting a song in your heart, a new song on your lips, and a glint in your eyes. Jesus said in John 8:32, 34, 36: "And ye shall know the truth, and the TRUTH shall make you FREE. Verily, verily I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. If the Son therefore shall make you FREE, ye shall be FREE indeed."

The TRUTH shall set you FREE: free from HERESY, free from SIN, free from the LAW. It will make you a free man—the TRUTH. Do you believe God’s truth? Do you actually believe God’s Word? Or are you holding to that which is NOT the truth—error? Are you saying, "O Lord, I just hate to violate TRADITIONAL law; I hate to violate the CUSTOM of tradition, I don’t want to do this, that and so. I must STAY in and with these damnable heresies that damn the souls of men?"

I would say unto you, "Embrace the truth. Turn to Christ and be saved. Look to Jesus and be saved, and hide the truth in your heart. That is the best place for it." He said, "The ‘truth dwells with us, and shall be in us forever."

Listen, beloved, let us BELIEVE the truth of God, and let us ACCEPT it. Above all, TRUST the Author of the truth, and that is JESUS. Wonderful Lord! Let us trust Him. Embrace the truth, be urged from INIQUITY, and follow in the paths of the Lord, which are mercy and truth. Amen.